The 1st book in Shayla Black's new Doomsday Brethern series is pretty good. The story is mostly about the two main characters (Olivia & Marrock), but you can tell that she is setting up the entire series with the first book. It is well written, though sometimes predictable. It was kind of like Harry Potter for adults; witches and wizards fighting to save the magical world from the evil wizard Mathias. The secondary characters were intriguing, with some interesting conflicts. I gave it three stars, it was good start to the series that looks to have promise, but the love story at times to a back seat to the overall series story. Which is why I only gave it 3 stars, rather than 3.5 - 4 stars. Definitely worth your time, but probably won't be on the "keeper" bookshelf.

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Summary: He's an immortal knight hungering for satisfaction.... As soon as Marrok sees Olivia Gray's dark windswept hair and burning violet eyes, he's sure they've met in eons past. He's felt her soft gentle curves writhing in pleasure beneath his own hard powerful body ... Morganna! For centuries, towering Marrok, once the mightiest of King Arthur's warriors, has endured a terrible curse cast upon him when he spurned the witch.She's a modern woman about to discover ancient magic.... Olivia shares a mystical--and irresistible--connection with brooding Marrok. Soon after the sexy warrior appears in her erotic dreams, he abducts her, demanding she un-curse him. Their intense passion is more powerful--and intimate--than either of them has ever known. Olivia may be the key to unlocking the diary that will break Morganna's hold on his life. But in the wrong hands, the book also holds the power to destroy all magickind. As they search for answers, a ruthless wizard returned from exile is building an army of evil. When he discovers Marrok and Olivia have the diary, only their love--with the help of a powerful group of magical Brethren--can save them.


So, at first I was very unsure about this series. One of my biggest passions is Arthurian Legend, I love it, and don't deal well seeing it totally tore up. I started reading this book and I instantly felt better, Ms. Black wrote a romance in the present that has some Arthurian Legend elements, but she doesn't completely disfigure it, thank goodness. The plot was engrossing, and I enjoyed the characters, I really like Bram, he reminds me of Morganen from Jean Johnson's Destiny series, which is awesome because he is one of my favorite characters of all time. The heat between in the main characters is scorching and Ms. Black has already shown she has no problems putting her characters through nail biting terror and torment. Marrok is a bit more over bearing than a normal alpha male, but I think that's just part of his nature, and his female doesn't seem to mind so much. I am interested if she is going to write he own version of some of the original legend as a prequel to this series...I think that would be cool. I already have the next book in this series laid out...I hope its as enjoyable as this book.

Also posted:http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/2009/11/book-review-tempt-me-with-darkness-by.html

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Let me start by saying I am not generally a fan of paranormal erotic romance. I respect everyone's preference, and I do understand how appealing shape-shifters, immortals, and the like can be, I just usually prefer stories firmly planted in the real world. That said, I really love Shayla Black, and I found this book at a library sale, so I figured I would give it a whirl. I am SO glad I did! First off, this story is funny. Though our hero is humorless, he is surrounded by charming and hilarious characters. Olivia and Marrock were just fine in the lead -- really sexy and unexpected -- but I adored Bram and can't wait to see what will happen with him in the next installments (I just got books 2 and 3.) This is a solid 4-star.

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IMO, this was a pretty good book. I wanted to know more about the other characters but she is making it into a series. So I guess we will find out a little more with each book. There was a lot of sex but not much action. I hope that the action evolves throughout the series.

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I wanted so much to like this book! It was ok - but I really didn't like the h. I like the secondary characters much more so I am hoping the next book will be better. I just thought it was slow and not all that interesting. Could have been great - just wasn't. Not even sure about the ending--- is he still immortal or not???

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I did not care for this book although I usually enjoy Shayla Black. Olivia and Marrok's relationship almost seemed boring after a while. It didn't "move" fast enough and the ending appears to be a set-up for more series. Ho hum!

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Good BUT, I felt like I was reading the adult version of Harry Potter. It had the main character who was an untapped power, a bad man returned from the dead, a book of secrets, etc. Still a good book but lacked imagination to me.

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I really enjoyed this book. It suprised me on how it came together. The main characters were great, the interaction between Olivia and Marrok is HOT!

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Sexually explicit paranormal romance. I found it very predictable. Not a keeper.

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I have had this book since it came out in 08. I picked it up and read the first couple of pages and got confused. Finally years later I forced myself to sit through it. while there are some steamy moments, overall I just found myself extremely annoyed with the book. The hero is obnoxiously overprotective and narrow minded, and the heroine is annoyingly insecure about their relationship and slightly naive. I admit that their are some good aspects but I found myself skimming the rest of the book to the end.

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This is not my typical choice of book to read. It is based on magic, wielded by bloodlines started by Merlin and Morgan le Fay. One evil, one good. It took me a good 100 pages to get into the story, I am not used to reading stories based in England. But once the story got going, I found myself enjoying the humor and connection between Marrok and Olivia. Their love story is cute, in no way original by any means. Strong woman saves brooding man from himself. But there is a backstory developing that takes the story along with them and a few more characters come into play. All in all it was a good Sunday afternoon read, not a keeper, but ok. This seems to be the beginning of a series, I won't rush out to buy them, but i might read the rest of it on a quiet Sunday afternoon.

www.texasreader-stacy.blogspot.com

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The new series by Shayla Black tells the story of magical wizards and witches and their lifemates battling evil black magic. Marrock is an immortal warrior from King Arthur's time who was cursed 1500 years ago by the witch Morgana to live forever and never reach sexual completion. He wants to break the curse so he can love and die a normal human death.
He meets Olivia Gray who is related to Morgana and looks just like her. Lust follows, but can he trust her?
The world building is very good. The main characters shine brightly and supporting characters show promise for their own novel.
Waiting for book two.

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I really enjoyed this book. The plot was really engaging and it sets up what has the potential to be a good series.

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